The People vs Dr Kildare (1941)

May 8, 1941

At Loew's Criterion

T.S.

Published: May 8, 1941

As long as disease can sicken and maim human beings, medicine will probably remain a dramatic battleground and films like the Dr. Kildare series will exert a continued fascination, even when, as in "The People vs. Dr. Kildare," now at the Criterion, the cure is padded out with endless courtroom rhetoric. Dressed up in white gown and rubber gloves, Dr. Kildare is a wonderful fellow. When he finally overcomes a microscopic germ, a mysterious nerve ailment, or, in the present instance, a paralyzed leg, this corner has a sudden impulse to cheer. But in a courtroom he is just a fish out of water.

And that, unfortunately, is where the brilliant young medico and rip-snorting old Dr. Gillespie are kept for the most part after Dr. Kildare performs an emergency operation on a young woman's leg at the scene of an auto accident. Later, a paralysis of the limb (due to another cagey little germ) brings every one into court on charges of negligence. And from then on Lew Ayres, rambunctious Lionel Barrymore and Laraine Day just sit around while the lawyers harangue. Send out a call for Dr. Kildare, operator. Tell him he's wanted back in the operating room.